So, did ya hear that the Baltimore Orioles have made it to the American League Championship Series?
Baltimore is buzzing with excitement over the prospect of the team making it to the World Series. The city is awash in orange (even the Ravens’ football stadium). Everyone is wearing jerseys and tees and showing their civic (ok, baseball) pride.
On Sunday, for the game that ended a 3-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers, I was invited to go down to southern Maryland for a watch party.
Everyone was to wear orange and bring an orange food, so for this little Orioles-themed shindig I decided to make a cheese ball. I would have made an orange Jell-O, but all of my molds are already packed.
I’m rather fond of the cheese ball; I’ve made them before. And it gave me a chance to clean out some stuff that was already in my fridge.
In fact, the only thing that I had to buy was a block of cream cheese.
So, the ingredients were (in all their vague glory):
- 8 oz block of cream cheese
- the remainder of a tub of pimiento cheese spread
- the remainder of a jar of sliced pimentos
- the remainder of an 8oz bag of shredded mild cheddar
- some cheese from a block of Red Fox Leicester Cheddar (delicious, btw)
- a splash of beer
- some grated horseradish
- some mustard
- poppy seeds
I think that’s it. Anyway, I threw it all in the mixer.
And it came out like this:
This was a lot softer than my other past cheese balls. I eventually got it in a ball, though. I refrigerated it overnight and even froze it a bit so it would maintain its shape.
So here is the finished ball:
The verdict: it was okay. It was surprisingly bland given all of the pimientos and horseradish that I threw in. But I liked it because it used up a lot of stuff that is in my kitchen (I hate to waste food!). And, it gave me something to write about in the midst of my move.
Go O’s!
Here is the song Orioles Magic (Feel It).
It’s no Steelers Polka or Let’s Go Mets , but few things are!
Let me note that you should really watch the Mets one–it’s a total mid-80s time capsule (JOE PISCAPO!)–plus, I (oddly) know all the words.
Here are more cheese balls for your autumn entertaining:
[…] This was a housewarming gift from my cousin Chuck, his wife Christine, and their boys, Charlie and Henry (you may remember them from my Orioles Magic Cheese Ball). […]
I love the vintage cheese and cracker plate! Good luck with the move! Now when I lament having to grade ~100 essays in a weekend, I can think, “At least I’m not moving!”
It looks like your cousins took their arranging duties seriously-I’ve never spied a better arranged cheese ball/cracker tray (honestly, I haven’t).
I wish pimento cheese in a tub was something I could buy around here. I can get the Kraft stuff in the tiny jar, but it isn’t the same.
I remember being introduced to Chicken in a Biscuit crackers in 7th grade while on a bus trip to Six Flags. I may or may not have eaten an entire box of them with canned cheese.
CANNED CHEESE!
Wait wait wait, you added all that stuff to the deliciousness that pimiento cheese already is — and it was bland? Yipes. Disappointing. (But spherical, so yay!)
(Go O’s!)
Weird, right? Maybe too much cream cheese?
Totally making that apple cheddar ball this weekend.
The apple cheddar ball is sooooooooooo good.
And pretty!